Shiva was so pleased that he gave Hiranyakashipu immortality. Later, Hiranyakashipu married and had a son named Prahalada, who became a devout follower of Vishnu. This angered Hiranyakashipu.

He instructed his best servants and assassins from all over the land to kill his son. However, Prahalada had gone to Vishnu's temple to pray and was protected by Vishnu. He emerged from Vishnu's temple unharmed. Finally, Hiranyakashipu decided to take care of the matter himself. Hiranyakashipu exclaimed to Prahalada, ‘You say that Vishnu is omnipresent. Is he present in this pillar?’ as he assaulted the pillar with his sword. Suddenly, Vishnu appeared in the form of Narashima. The Narashima was half man and half lion.

Hiranyakashipu was not scared because he knew Shiva had given him invincibility against both man and beast. However, the Divine Vishnu took incarnation as the Narashima, neither human nor beast, and thus Hiranyakashipu was not protected. Vishnu tore apart Hiranyakashipu’s belly with sharp nails. The claw is a part of the body that is both living and dead. Thus, Narashima was able to tear apart Hiranyakashipu. Prahalada was crowned Hiranyakashipu’s successor and ruled justly—everybody was happy.

To protect Veerbhadra, Shiva appeared in his most devastating form, Sharabha. It is said to be a giant, frightening, form with thousands of hands. His appearance resembled a huge cannibal bird. SharabhaSharabhaLong ago, Sage Kashyapa had two mighty sons from Diti... scratched Narashima with his wings and carried him off into the distance. Vishnu became so scared that he fell unconscious. After he woke up, Vishnu eulogized Shiva, which pleased Shiva. Shiva added the skull of Narashima to the garland of skulls he wore around his neck.

In later literature, Sharabha is described as an eight-legged deer. Shiv puran narrates that god Shiva assumed the Avatar of Sharabha to tame Narasimha - the fierce man-lion avatar of Vishnu worshipped by Vaishnava sect - into a normal pleasant form representing harmony. This form is popularly known as Sarabeshwara (Sarabha) or Sharabeshwaramurti.